JAPAN: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

When I was in 8^th grade and going through high school orientation, we were told to start thinking about what foreign language we wanted to study. Our options were Spanish, Latin, and Japanese. I knew I didn’t want to study Latin because I wanted to study a language I could use while traveling someday, and let’s face it: while studying a dead may be beneficial to the sciences, you can’t travel anywhere with it. Except maybe science conventions. But I think scientists speak another language altogether. And I knew that Spanish was super popular, and the classes would be full. (I did go back and learn some Spanish on my own.) So, that left me with Japanese. Plus, all of my friends were taking Japanese, and that was probably the biggest reason I took the class. But to be honest, I already had an interest in Asia and their writing systems and culture, so this also seemed to be a logical choice for me. I took four years of Japanese in high school, then won a scholarship to study abroad in Japan during the summer of 1998 where I was placed directly in Tokyo. I continued to study throughout college and joined the Japanese Student Association and other Japan-America organizations. I even worked for three summers at Concordia Language Villages at the Japanese camp, Mori no Ike. I have to admit, I haven’t studied quite as much during the last five or ten years or so, giving way to studying Spanish and Portuguese. But Japan has always had a special place in my heart, and I’m very happy to finally land on Japan for my blog. 

 

The Japanese word for Japan is Nihon or Nippon, often translated as “the origin of the sun.”  The etymology of the term Japan comes from a mispronunciation or other foreign term for the islands of Japan. However, which language it’s stemmed from seems to be somewhat disputed. It mostly likely was introduced into English from the Portuguese traders who picked up the Malay-origin Chinese word for the island nation. 

Japan is an archipelago of over 6800 islands in East Asia. On the eastern side is the Pacific Ocean and to the western side is the Sea of Japan, which separates Japan from North Korea and South Korea as well as Russia.  It’s also separated from mainland China by the East China Sea. The Ryukyu Islands are also part of Japan, which includes the island of Okinawa (housing one of the US Air Force Bases that are still in Japan left over from WWII) and extends all the way to Taiwan. The four main islands from north to south are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Fukuoka. Because Japan is spread out quite a ways from north to south, it has a very drastic change in climate across the country. The northernmost island of Hokkaido is very cold in the winter and has a famous snow sculpting celebration each February. The southernmost islands of the Okinawa prefecture enjoy a warm tropical climate. Its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire makes it prone to earthquakes (as many as 1500 per year—to be fair, I was in six earthquakes while I was there for six weeks, and only one or two were barely felt) and tsunamis, a Japanese word itself. It’s one of the most densely populated countries in the world: it’s like taking half of the people in the US and forcing them to all live in California. 

The original people in Japan were the Ainu who mostly lived on the northernmost island of Hokkaido as well as some of the Russian islands north of Hokkaido.  (I did a research paper on the Ainu when I was taking Japanese in college. They were treated much like the American Indians were by the Europeans who arrived later.) The early people in Japan were mainly hunter-gatherers, and they were highly influenced by the Chinese language, literature, and culture. Likewise, Buddhism began to spread and became widely popular during the 11^th century. Starting in the 1200s, Japanese society entered into a feudal era. This is this time period that inspired many of our samurai films and stories. The country was pretty much shut off to the rest of the world. However, Portuguese Jesuit priests were allowed to enter during the 1600s (if you’ve ever read James Clavell’s Shogun, you’ll be familiar with this period). This was a crucial visit, which allowed Japan to obtain many items (including weapons) and cultural information from the West. This period of closure to the outside lasted until US Navy Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Japan in 1854, and Japan subsequently opened itself up to the world again. Japan entered what’s known as the Meiji Restoration where they sent out their best and finest students to learn everything they could from the rest of the world to bring back to Japan in order to help modernize the country. Around the turn of the century, Japan entered wars with China and Russia to gain land. It then entered China again in 1937 and also invaded French Indochina and Pearl Harbor. The US responded to the attack at Pearl Harbor by dropping the controversial atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (making it the only country in the world to be attacked this way). Since WWII, Japan has increased its economy to have one of the largest economies in the world and subsequently, a high quality life. 

Not only is Tokyo the capital, it’s the largest city in the country, coming in with over 13.1 million people in the metropolitan area. I have a certain affinity for this city because this is where I did my homestay (in Ikegami, Ota-ku). Its former name is Edo, which is often mentioned in literature and in some place names, but was renamed Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration. Tokyo took much damage from bombings during WWII and much of the city was rebuilt after the war. Today, it is a major city for government, education, finance, culture, sports, and the arts not only in Japan but throughout Asia. The city is divided into 23 wards, each one with its own special bragging points. The major shopping and tourist areas are in Shinjuku and Shibuya as well as the Ginza and Harajuku neighborhoods. Temples and shrines dot the cityscape along with museums, libraries, restaurants, Tokyo Dome baseball stadium, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the Rainbow Bridge and many other places to see. 

Since the Meiji period started in 1868, Japan started expanding its economy and joining the world market. There were many industries getting their start, and there are many top companies in Japan today that were started during this period. The period after WWII saw much growth up until the 1990s when the bubble finally popped, and the slowdown generally lasted until the 2000s. Japan is a leading producer of cars—names like Daihatsu, Honda, Isuzu, Mazda, Mitsubishi (what I drive), Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, and Yamaha are common names around the world. They’re also known for their electronics companies such as Sony, Panasonic, Nintendo, Casio, Hitachi, Seiko, Sharp, Toshiba, Minolta, Fuji, Fujitsu, JVC, Kenwood, Konica, Kyocera, Uniden, TDK, Sanyo, Pioneer, and Nikon. They also have substantial robotics, energy, biomedical technologies, chemical, and space programs in Japan. The oldest company in the world is a construction company that was founded in 578 and was continuously in business until it was absorbed by another company in 2006. 

Religious freedom is granted throughout the country. Although most Japanese people do not actually consider themselves belonging to any religion, most people visit a Buddhist or Shinto shrines during major festivals and holidays and will lay claim to one of these religions when asked. Other Asian religions are also found in Japan like Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam as well as Judaism and to a much lesser degree, Christianity. 

By far the most widely spoken language in Japan is Japanese. It’s the language of government and education and general communication. Japanese uses four writing systems: hiragana (for purely Japanese words), katakana (for foreign or borrowed words), kanji (the more complicated symbols borrowed from Chinese), and romaji (Roman letters as well as Roman Arabic numerals). It also utilizes a set of honorifics, meaning they have different ways of speaking to those higher than you in society and those lower than you. The Ainu language in northern Japan is on the verge of becoming extinct. However, awareness of the Ryukyuan languages (those of the Ryukyu Islands and Okinawan dialects) are also increasing. 

Japan’s popularity and cultural products have reached all corners of the earth from Hello Kitty to Pocky to anime to video games to sumo wrestling and martial arts to cat cafes to karaoke to beer vending machines to bonsai trees to sushi, green tea, fugu, and Kobe beef. I’m so excited to write about a country I love and would love to take my children to. My kids are already telling me to find a job there (I just don’t think any company offering an editing job would pay to move my whole family across the world, or to any country for that matter).  

Up next: art and literature

EL SALVADOR: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Ok, I’m back. Well, I would’ve been right on schedule had I known my doctor was going to cancel my surgery in lieu of getting my thyroid back to normal.  Sheesh, this is getting to be too much drama for me. I think what I need is some food from El Salvador.

El Salvador is the smallest country in the Central American isthmus on the Pacific Ocean side. In fact, it’s the only country in Central America that doesn’t touch the Atlantic (just like how Belize is the only one that doesn’t touch the Pacific).  It’s surrounded by Guatemala and Honduras.  El Salvador is plagued with frequent and disastrous earthquakes, along with having over twenty volcanoes, some of which are still active – such wonderful gifts from being on the Ring of Fire. It also has over 300 rivers, the most important of which is the Rio Lempa. They have a definite rainy and dry season, even though they call their rainy season winter, which is actually from May to October.  (I wish it just rained during winter here.)  Hurricanes are also a threat to the country, as well as other extreme weather like El Niño, La Niña and droughts. El Salvador is also a country with a rich biodiversity because of its tropical climate. They’re known for being home to several species of sea turtles.

The capital city is San Salvador.  It’s not only the largest city with about 2.4 million people in the metro area, but it’s also vital as the government, culture, educational, and economic center. It’s been the host of several international and pan-American sports competitions.  In almost every sense, San Salvador is a modern city and tourist attraction with museums, parks, shopping, excellent restaurants, and cultural arts.

The original inhabitants were the Pipil people, who spoke Nahuatl. It’s also believed that the Mayans may have also been in the area as well, since El Salvador lies on the edge of their civilization.  El Salvador wasn’t able to escape the same smallpox epidemic that his other areas of the Caribbean, Central, and South America when the Spaniards made their entrance.  The Spanish practically lost their minds over the gold found in Mexico and Guatemala, but when they got to the Pipil lands, they were sorely dismayed at the lack of gold. However, the area had great soil from the volcanic lands. So, they kept it anyway. There were many battles fought between the Pipils and the Spanish, ones in which the Pipil didn’t fare so well. Finally, Salvadorans banded together and declared their independence from Spain.  Soon after that, they joined Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua to create the Federal Republic of Central America. It only lasted 20 years until it dissolved, and El Salvador became it’s own independent country until it joined the Greater Republic of Central America, along with Honduras and Nicaragua. It dissolved after two years, and El Salvador once again became it’s own independent country. The country turned its focus on coffee production as its main means of economic growth.  The 20^th century brought along a string of political uprisings and coup d’états.  There have been many economic reforms in the 1990s and other social reforms aimed at bettering the state of the union.  Crime remains a prevalent problem throughout the country. 

The economy in this country has had its ups and downs.  In fact, like Ecuador, El Salvador adapted the US Dollar as its currency to stabilize their economy.  Natural disasters have always had a negative impact on their economy as they struggle to rebuild.  El Salvador has often been considered a mono-export country, meaning one that pretty much relies on one product.  It used to be indigo but later switched to coffee. Inflation is fairly steady although still one of the lowest in the region.  And even at that, it still has the third largest economy in Central America.  They are seeing growth, and like other Central American and Caribbean countries, ecotourism is one contribution.  Remittances from abroad – when people move to another country for employment and send part of the money home – are another contribution, as well as free-trade agreements.

Look at the size of those baskets -- this has GOT to be back-breaking work.

The vast majority of Salvadorans identify themselves as Christians – Roman Catholics as the primary denomination, followed by Protestantism.  The next most common belief is non-belief: this includes people who are atheist, agnostic, or people who believe in some sort of god but doesn’t have a religion.  There are other religions represented in El Salvador but with much smaller followings.

Spanish is the most widely-spoken language in El Salvador.  Other indigenous languages that are spoken by a small population are Q’eqchi’ (a language spoken by indigenous people from Guetemalan and Belizian who were living in El Salvador), Nawat, and Maya, although these speakers also speak Spanish as well.  Common foreign languages that are learned in school are French, Dutch, German, and English.  And since WWII, there are also small Japanese and Taiwanese communities as well. 

There are a few famous people of Salvadoran descent.  Christy Turlington, model for Calvin Klein, Maybelline, and Versace is half-Salvadoran.  Writer and artist Consuelo de Saint Exupéry is from El Salvador; she married French writer Antoine de Saint Exupéry, author of one of my favorite books, The Little Prince.  And unfortunately, the street gang MS-13 that is based in Los Angeles, San Francisco and many other cities across the US, Canada, Mexico, and Central America is made up of ex-pat Salvadorans. But on the other hand, it’s one of the few countries that is experiencing reforestation of its tropical rain forests.  It does host one UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s a place called Joya de Ceren.  The entire site was covered in ashes after a volcanic explosion and has been called the “Pompeii of the Americas.”  It makes you wonder perhaps how many other things that have been buries under volcanic ash that we haven’t discovered yet.

Up next: holidays and celebrations